麴

qū
noun #69,508

Meanings

  1. 1 yeast; fermentation starter; jiuqu (the moulded grain-and-mould cake used to start Chinese liquor brewing)
  2. 2 surname Qu

Examples

HSK 7-9
Zhōngguó báijiǔ niàngzào yīkào jiǔqū lái tánghuà diànfěn.
Chinese liquor brewing relies on jiuqu fermentation starter to break down starches.
HSK 7-9
Tángdài Qū shì chū guò jǐ wèi néng zhēng shàn zhàn de jiāngjūn.
The Qu family produced several capable generals in the Tang dynasty.

Tips

usage
Two distinct uses. As a common noun, 麴 is a high-register / traditional variant of 曲 (the 'yeast / starter' sense). The modern simplified standard collapsed both into 曲, so in mainland publications you will typically see 酒曲 (jiuqu, liquor starter) rather than 酒麴. The 麴 form survives in Taiwan, Hong Kong, traditional-character writing, and historical / culinary scholarship. As a surname, 麴 is the Qu family - most famous as the rulers of the Tang-era Gaochang Kingdom on the Silk Road.
register
Even in traditional-character contexts, the surname is sometimes written 曲 rather than 麴. Mainland identity documents standardise to 曲; people whose family records preserve the 麴 spelling may keep it for cultural / genealogical reasons.

Components

radical
麦 mài
wheat
Left wheat radical (Kangxi #199). The semantic anchor: the fermentation starter is traditionally a cake of mouldy wheat or barley. The radical files 麴 in the grain-foods family alongside 麸 (bran), 麦芽 (malt - using 麦 plus 芽).
phonetic
匊 jū
to scoop; a handful (supplying the sound)
Right phonetic 匊 - a hand cupping rice grains, supplying the sound (jū to qū, a regular palatal shift). The same phonetic anchors 鞠 (raise, ball), 菊 (chrysanthemum), 掬 (scoop with hands).

Stroke Order

麴 qū